Privacy - Safe Harbor

Updated January 9, 2001. Please scroll to bottom for latest information on this topic.

After two years of negotiation regarding a safe flow of data protection across the Atlantic, Safe Harbor was accepted by both President Clinton and the EU Commission’s President in June. Information has been flowing freely between the United States and European countries for years, however, Safe Harbor offers protection in the areas of notice, choice, third party sharing, access, enforcement, data integrity, and security. In early July, the European Parliament chastised the EU Commission’s acceptance of Safe Harbor and objected to the privacy protections. The objections raised revolve around the tenuously debated issue of how much privacy protection is enough. These objections created a power struggle between the EU Commission and the European Parliament, and although the European Parliament ruled that the commission did not overstep its authority in accepting Safe Harbor.

July 27, 2000 Update

The European Commission met and decided to go forward with implementation of Safe Harbor as negotiated.

November 1, 2000 Update

As of November 1, 2000, Safe Harbor takes effect but it will not be until next week when the Commerce Department establishes its website which will outline the process that companies need to follow in order to be recognized as adhering to Safe Harbor policies. That website is now functioning. Companies can "self certify" through this website if they so choose.

Safe Harbor is the agreement between the U.S. and the EU which provides privacy protections of personal data for EU citizens and also adheres to the protections that the U.S. has instituted. The primary argument which has been raised against Safe Harbor is that the U.S. has to adhere to more stringent privacy policies when dealing with EU citizens when the reverse is not true. The Commerce Department, however, sees this agreement as a means by which to continue the movement of information internationally, when that movement was threatened by the European policies.

January 9, 2001 Update

On November 1, 2000, Safe Harbor went into effect and the Department of Commerce thought that hundreds of companies would be joining the forces and certifying themselves under the Safe Harbor policies. However, as of January 1, 2001 fewer than 20 companies had joined the ranks of those which comply with Safe Harbor. This low participation level has made the Department of Commerce take notice and they, with some private companies, will be initiating traveling seminars to inform, teach, and certify those companies that fall under Safe Harbor's guidelines.